With so much new music out each week, knowing what to listen to can sometimes be a challenge. Here we've weened out the best from another busy week and weened out our favourites from the mainstream and beyond.
Especially good this week is husky voiced Illnois native Trevor Sensor's track taken from his new album Andy Warhol's Dream which is out today - definitely one of the best new artists around at the moment. Other than that what a return after three years from The Horrors and seeing Wolf Alice take on music in the vein of Dream Wife and sound great with some punk attitude has been great. Get the full picture below
Authors: Jack Palfrey (JP), Nick Roseblade (NR), Dom Gourlay (DG), Cai Trefor (CT), Julian Marszalek (JM).
Wolf Alice - 'Yuk Foo'
Since their 2015 debut ‘My Love Is Cool’, Wolf Alice have been one of the UKs most talked-about guitar bands. Two very busy years on and the band have announced their highly-anticipated second album ‘Visions of a Life’ and shared the snarling, incendiary and frankly unexpected first single ‘Yuk Foo’. The new single is a million miles away from the radio-friendly, grungy pop we’re used to. In its place is a formidable punk grimace more akin to the 90s riot grrl snarl of Bikini Kill or Veruca Salt – vocalist Ellie’s screeching, cursing vocals are underpinned by scuzzy, high-octane guitars and hammering percussion. ‘Visions of a Life’ is out 29 September and if this is anything to go by, Wolf Alice are sounding better than ever. (JP)
The Horrors - 'Machine'
The Horrors ten year metamorphosis from cartoon garage rockers to fully fledged sonic adventurers is complete. 'Machine' sets the scene impeccably for their as-yet untitled forthcoming fifth album. Produced by the highly revered Paul Epworth, 'Machine' does as it says on the tin. Fusing an array of industrialised beats that wouldn't sound amiss on a Nine Inch Nails or recent tour buddies Depeche Mode record. It represents another giant step forwards from a band seemingly always on the lookout for their next diversion.
Trevor Sensor - 'Andy Warhol's Dream'
This track is taken from the Illnois-based 23-year-old new album of the same name that's out on all streaming platforms today. Sensor's album relates to Warhol's prophecy about how technology would separate people. Warhol once said, "“When I got my first television set, I stopped caring so much about having close relationships.” Now Sensor is someone who feels the negative side effects of mass communication and through the perspective of a mid western boy being contented with the plasticity of Hollywood relationships when he started getting into the music industry. He has decided to provide a sideways commentary on it. This track like the rest is sincere , emotional and lush sonically thanks to him having Whitney as his backing band. Trevor Sensor is one to watch and easily one of the most inspiring singer/songwriters able to take the baton from the great american indie acts like The National, Sufjan Stevens, and many more before him, and show this generation has something awesome to give.
Anorakk - 'Burning Shoes'
Rips have quickly built a reputation in Brooklyn and it’s not hard to see why – sounding like they were plucked right out of the best corners of the experimental, art-punk pastiche of 70s NYC. Their self-titled debut (produced by Austin Brown of fellow Brooklyn slackers Parquet Courts) is officially out today on Faux Discx and the first single ‘Losing II’, released earlier this week, gave us a perfect taste of what to expect from the new record. It’s a four-minute blast of jangling, frenetic post-punk that brings to mind the likes of Television and The Feelies repackaged for the modern age. (DG)
Fazerdaze - 'Misread'
You know when summer rolls around and bands start releasing songs that incorporate the seasons’ name, or vibe, to push their faux ideology? Yeah, its bullshit isn’t it? Luckily ‘L.A. Witch’ haven’t done this on their latest single ‘Untitled’. It’s the sound of a hazy sun setting while barbecues hiss and spit in the back ground. It’s the sound of thinking you only have one ice cold drink left, but realise there is another on at the back of the fridge. It’s the sound of unadulterated fun and not having to wake up in the morning for work. Shit, maybe ‘Untitled’ is the perfect name for it… (NR)
Bicep - 'Aura'
This has been a long time coming. Finally Matt McBriar and Andy Ferguson have released the track they’ve been hinting at all these years. ‘Aura’ sounds like John Carpenter, during this Assault on Precinct 13 period, but given a small room make over. Tight synths jostle for your attention with clever breakbeats and basslines. This is a masterclass in less is more. Their debut album will be released in September through Ninja Tune, so at least we have one thing to look forward to in autumn apart from the start of the football season. (NR)
Isaac Gracie - 'All In My Mind'
This young Ealing-based musician brought one of 2016's best songs with beautiful the beautiful stripped back Jeff Buckley-esque hit 'Last Words'. It was a bedroom demo that garnered international acclaim and famously Jay Z became a fan. Instead of rushing straight into putting out an album of the back of early hype Gracie has been steadily making demo after demo and tracing out his next steps. 'All In My Mind' shows what Graice is capable of when you take his beguiling, emotionally fragile voice and whack it in an incredible studio (RAK) and get a top producer involved (Marcus Dravs). A seriously huge pop career awaits this solo star. (CT)
Strange Cages - 'The Cracks'
Do you like contemporary music with a retro feel? Yeah? Awesome! Strange Cages are for you then! Hailing from the south’s seaside pleasure centre Brighton, sorry Bournemouth and New Quay, this trio make songs that sound like your favourite bands of yesteryear, but all modern and 2017. Right, imagine if the Sonics, Music Machine, The Cramps, the Lemon Pipers, Count Five and Jimmy Iovine produced it and gave it a delicious pop sheen. OK, ok, there is more to it than that, but this is the crux of it. ‘The Cracks’ is full of guitars, filthy bass, unrelenting drumming and quizzical lyrics and all doused with a shambolic spirit that's hard to ignore (NR).
Normanton Street - 'Supreme'
Normanton Street show their melodic side on new single ‘Supreme’. On previous releases this Soul-Hop trio have name checked Premier League stickers, Kris Akabusi, and Katy Hill and the trials and tribulations of growing up in a world they didn’t create, but it is live where they shine. In a nut shell they are the UK’s answer to The Roots and with every performance, and release, they show why this isn’t just a band to see on a Friday but a band you can trust and believe in. (NR)
Dizzee Rascal - 'Space'
Dizzee Rascal made a surprise return this week, and 'Space' is the first fruit from his forthcoming album RASKIT. The single is in line with Rascal's promise of a "very loud, rap-based album" and Rascal's reached a point in his career now where he doesn't need to be creating any commercial hits and this track is far away from the corniness of 'Bonkers' as you could get. It features Dizzee's unmistakable London slang and quick-fire spitting with some sparse but, yet viciously low rib-rattling beats and mysterious minor synth line. The instrumentation was crafted by US producer Salva, who has worked with the likes of DJ Shadow and SchoolBoy Q.It's a strong return and reminder of why Dizzee is often regarded as Britain's best MC. (RW)
Jim Jones And The Righteous Mind - ‘Heavy Lounge #1’
Three years after the demise of his celebrated Revue, Jim Jones returns with his new band, The Righteous Mind. Their debut album, Super Natural, finds Jones and his cohorts sailing into altogether darker and more eldritch - though none less charged - waters. As evidenced by ‘Heavy Lounge #1’, Jim Jones And The Righteous Mind not only tap into a lineage that includes Grinderman, Tom Waits and The Stooges, they also add to it. And anyone that pays homage to Beat Club is alright with us. (JM)